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from Forms & Surfaces, Box 52 15, Santa Barbara, Calif., these pulls are pleasant to touch and very easy to clean. Also, they double as bumpers for doors. Plywood and the carcase-l don't build the kickspace into my base cabinets. Instead, I prefabricate a base-rail system in my shop, using 4Yz-in. wide lengths of %-in. plywood and Ixl pine cleats. These rails run under all base cabinets; one along the back, close to the wall, and one in the front, set back 2Yz in. from the cabinet face to create the kickspace. I cut sections of railing to length and set them down against layout lines on the floor. Then I find the highest point along the rail's top edge and shim the entire rail system level. The rail is fastened to the floor by screwing through the Ix I cleats (drawing, next page). Once all the rails are level, the base cabinets can be set down on top of them and screwed to the rail and to each other. This method of building and installing base cabinets is used widely in Europe, and it really speeds the work. Shimming a rail level is much easier than shimming an entire base cabinet. And because the rail system is separate from the cabinet, it can have its own special treatment in terms of finish. I've even designed a special kickspace rail that hinges up in one section to provide extra storage space underneath the cabinet. With the kickspace and face frame eliminated from the carcase itself, my cabinets are just basic boxes. Each has a top, two sides, a bottom Photos above and facing page: Paul Levine and a back. The front-what you see after a wall of cabinets has been installed-consists of either drawer fronts or doors. I use %-in. thick hardwood plywood for ev- erything but the back of the box, which is YoI-in. hardwood-faced ply. Many lumber dealers now sell hardwood-faced plywood with fir veneer cores. I don't like to use this stuff. Fir veneer is naturally wavy and unstable, and this can mean sand-throughs in the hardwood face veneers on a sheet. There can also be a large number of voids to contend with. Generally, the quality range of fir veneer-core plywood from one order to the next is very wide, and this can add a lot of anxiety and frustration to a job. To eliminate this, I always use lumber-core plywood with poplar or lauan cores. These are relatively soft, stable hardwoods with even grain. Medium-density hardboard is my second choice if cost prohibits the use of good plywood. Available in thicknesses up to MDH is very stable as long as it doesn't get wet, and it's an excellent base for veneering. Particleboard runs a poor third. If extra weight and reduced strength won't be a problem, then it is the most economical material to use. I don't like to handle particleboard sheets because they're so heavy. I also don't like the formaldehydelaced material that comes back in my face from the saw. As soon as the plywood gets to the shop, I rip I \i the sheets to finished width. For base cabinets, this is usually 23Yz in.; for wall cabinets, 12 in. By processing the material immediately, I don't in., The flush-fit cabinet owes its elegance to cabinetmaking skill and good hardware. Concealed hinges, above, eliminate the need for a face frame. This one mounts in a 1 %-in. dia. hole bored in the Inside face of the cabinet door. A shoe screwed to the side of the carcase holds the detachable hinge mechanism, which allows the door to open nearly 180·. Full-extension, ball-bearing drawer slides, top, are also part of the custom kitchen. Facing page and above left, doors and drawer fronts are covered with plastic laminate; their edges are trimmed with solId wood. The wood trim creates a nice contrast and also cushions edges from blows and abrasions that might chip a laminate edge. December 1985/January 1986 59